An introspective, genre-bending journal of hedonistic depression.

This is a record that opens up as you progress through it. I’ll confess that I thought I had it pegged, but to Lewca’s credit, he ventures stylistically further on this one record than I would’ve expected.

That said, the overall vibe here is of a malevolent statement of personal darkness; if that’s your thing, then this maybe for you. If not, then this record could certainly grate on you, and maybe that’s it’s aim.

For example; ‘Year One’ by Lewca opens with some intent and what could be the tone for what’s to come; the rhubarb and custard sing-along ‘Young and Foolish’ with its profound wisdom: ‘I’d rather be young and foolish, than old and fucking stupid’.

Cool cool… Good luck with both of those seeming inevitabilities.

But then ‘Doing my Thing’ is at least… doing its own thing; it’s a song you’d avoid in the kebab shop at 3am, but then obnoxious is clearly the point. Not in a disruptive-protest, furious-punk kind of way, more an honest statement of self-dissatisfaction, which at this point, I actually believe.

‘Back from the Dead’ switches it up a bit, plodding along with a hangover, about a hangover and vocally resembling a sort of Ian Drury-esque account of a hangover. It’s well enough put together, depending on how you feel or want to hear about hangovers.

‘Fallen’ is sad. Suicide, death, it’s all there.

‘Born to Survive’ is where Lewca hits his stride. The hip-hop beats suit his vocal delivery and maybe that’s what makes sense – he’s a natural MC and lyricist. He’s a man speaking his own truth. And if what you focus on you become, perhaps tells you a lot.

Do you remember Agadoo by Black Lace? Well imagine if it was about divorce. That’s what the next hit ‘What went wrong’ feels like.

‘Beautiful Day’ (for MDMA?) is exactly what it sounds like as this creatively schizophrenic record swerves down the dance music lane. The genre-hopping being one of the record’s strengths; it’s not that predictable, even if it’s full of seemingly off-the-cuff thoughts polished into tracks. And, although there’s no sign of developing ideas further before committing to the mic, it is what it is and tracks like ‘Dodgems’ and ‘Champions’ are to be fair, bangers.

The Ska of ‘Nuffink’ picks up where The Specials left off and suits Lewca down to the ground. But then, this is a guy that’s like a playlist on shuffle. Not afraid to speak an ugly truth or two but as the record goes on it gets much more playful and creative as it spans a ton of sounds, like only a solo artist producing their own record can.

There’s some good energy on there too – take ‘Giggle’…a bouncing house party of a song you’d want to hear live. That’s not easy to pull off.

In all, this sounds like one man’s account of his world and like it or not, he probably sincerely doesn’t give a fuck.

If you feel like not giving a fuck with him, give it a listen. If not, I doubt anyone cares.

For fans of:Ian Drury, The Specials, The Jam, Kid Kapichi

Scott Massey
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